14. Pubs are known as a typically English institution. Supply evidence for this statement. (Listening Comprehension. Text: “Down the Pub”)

14. Pubs are known as a typically English institution. Supply evidence for this statement. (Listening Comprehension. Text: “Down the Pub”)

15. Describe a journey that went wrong for some reason (Listening Comprehension. Text: “Journey to Namur”).

I had to go to Namur in Belgium on business. I was supposed to be there on Saturday at 4: 30. So instead of taking the plane on Friday evening and wasting a lot of Friday afternoon getting there, I thought I leave very early on Saturday morning and arrive in Brussels at 10: 30, which would give me plenty of time to get to Namur at 4: 30.

So very early in morning on Saturday the taxi arrived on time and I took the taxi to the local station. I was in plenty of time for the train. Infact I was early for the rain. And when I got to the station, a slow train to Reading where I catch the couch was waiting on the platform. I thought about taking the slow train although I left before the fast train it arrived in Redding after the fast train. So I thought I would go ahead and wait for the fast train, which I did… for a very long time. Past the time it was supposed to arrive. About 10 minutes after the train was supposed to be in the station and announcement came over there were floods in wooden basset that delayed the train, and we waited and we waited the train finally got there. But because the train was late I had missed my coach I Redding, and I had to wait for another 20 minutes or so before the next coach. Which still had get me to the airport just barely I time.

Unfortunately there were roadworks on motorway between Reading and Heathrow and the coach was delayed quite a bit. I hadn’t really worried up to now, but I started getting worried now that I gonna miss my plane. When I stepped out of the coach at Heathrow it was 19 minutes to take off time. So I stepped out of the coach, fortunately I had just hand baggage. I grabbed my bags and ran to the departure area I put my bags through and the X-ray machine, and then found a short passport line and had my passport checked and ran to the departure gate. When I was almost at the departure gate I realized that I left me hand bag back at the X-ray machine. So I turned around and ran toward the X-ray machine, being screamed at on the way back by the security guard because you are now supposed to go back the same way as come in. I did get my hand bag. I ran back through the passport control, fortunately the man at passport control recognized me and got to the gate only to find out that the plain was late. So we waited and we waited and the plane finally took off. And we were almost an hour late getting to Brussels. But I figured out that this would still probably be OK. We did have to wait a while to land in Brussels because we weren’t scheduled to arrive so we had to circle the airport for a few minutes. But we did land in Brussels.
And I hurried out and found the longest line for the passport control I have ever seen in my life. They just snaked over the arrival area. It turned out that that week-end the Pope was in Brussels or in Belgium. The passport officers were very careful to try to keep terrorists out of Brussels. So the passport control took ages and ages. I was really getting worried by this time. When I got out of the passport control in to the main airport, our local representative was waiting for me and told we were OK, we could make the train. So we jumped into a taxi and rushed off to the train station.

Our local representative was wonderful. She had realized things would be like they were and we wouldn’t have time for lunch. She had lunch bought for me. She had everything all arranged. We got to the train station and the train fortunately it was on time. It was a real sight of relief down at the train. And I applied myself to the yogurt and apple that she had brought along with the snack. So we were o our way to Namur and I thought everything was OK. Half way to Namur, and announcement came over in the speaker system on the train that there was a bombs scare. And the train stopped and we all had to get off the train and wait at the station indefinitely. So we got off the train and waited about 30 minutes, before they found another train to get us to Namur.

We finally got to Namur about 10 or 15 minutes before I was supposed to begin speaking to those people. I must say it was a really heroin experience.

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